Not upheld: scam/fraud - refund of unauthorised payments complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S believed he was booking flights through a travel agent but was actually communicating with a scammer who induced him to approve four credit card payments totalling £6,135.52 to a genuine travel company. Santander refunded two of the payments but refused to refund the first two, which Mr S had approved in-app believing they were for flights. The ombudsman found the first two payments were authorised by Mr S despite his deception, making him primarily liable. Santander could not block pending payments after authorisation was complete, and chargeback claims would likely have failed. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that although Mr S was deceived about the purpose of payments one and two, he knowingly approved them in-app, making them authorised transactions for which he bears primary liability. The payments were sent to a genuine merchant and confirmed in-app, making them appear less likely to be fraudulent. Santander could not block pending payments as authorisation had already been completed. Chargeback claims would likely have failed because the payments were authenticated in-app and the genuine merchant did provide services (albeit to the scammers, not Mr S). Section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1974 did not apply as there was no contractual relationship between Mr S and the genuine merchant.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website